Coventry has an acute shortage of hotel rooms and would be unable to cope with the expected visitor influx to the city if it wins the race to become UK City of Culture.

That’s the conclusion of industry experts projecting the economic impact of winning the bid, having looked at the growth in northern cities such as current title holder Hull and Liverpool when it was European Capital of Culture.

Coventry, the research has found, will need to build new hotels to meet the demand of the additional visitors as current average occupancy is already high, due to business use in the region.

Coventry Hill Hotel

The research has revealed Coventry would need at least 250 new hotel beds if it lands the UK City of Culture title in 2021.

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Warwickshire and Birmingham, which have 20,000 hotel beds between them, would provide an overflow for Coventry in 2021, but the city would require its own growth in both budget and quality hotels.

Andrew Dixon, who is advising Coventry on its bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021 and is a visiting professor at Coventry University and the University of Warwick, has been managing an in-depth tourism research project on behalf of the city.

The Britannia Hotel Coventry. File pic.

He said: “Hull has seen an increase of over 20 per cent in hotel occupancy since winning the title and although Coventry already has more beds than both Hull and the previous winner, Derry/Londonderry, our research shows it will need more.

“Hull have been asking local people to turn spare rooms into Airbnb bedrooms in order to cope with success.

“Their recent Spencer Tunick exhibition attracted 10,500 visitors in one weekend and events such as the BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend draw people from across the UK.”

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Mr Dixon added: “In 2013, Derry/Londonderry attracted 400,000 people for one music festival and were filling hotel beds 50 miles away.”

Coventry’s larger catchment, with more than 40 million people within two hours of the city, strong rail links and close proximity to Birmingham Airport will also add to its need for more beds.

Allesley Hotel Coventry. File pic.

“The Midlands has missed out on major cultural titles before but, with Coventry one of the favourites to win the bid, it would be a huge opportunity for regeneration,” said Mr Dixon.

“The bid could be worth £80 million in increased tourism spend in 2021 and around £20 million in increased revenue for hotels. The opportunity for existing and new hotels is massive.”

The former Coventry Telegraph building – which is already earmarked for a new 100-bed themed hotel – the Ricoh Arena and Friargate all offer potential new hotel sites for independents and major hotel brands.

An artist's impression of how the former Coventry Telegraph headquarters might look as a boutique hotel

Steve Reynolds of Friargate, who are supporting and sponsoring Coventry’s City of Culture bid, said: “We are pleased that our plans for Friargate include two hotels that will make a significant contribution to the number of new hotel rooms required in the city.

“Success in the bidding to be the UK City of Culture in 2021 will only accelerate the need for hotel rooms and we wish the city every success.”